Mank

Producer John Houseman tells screenwriter Herman J. “Mank” Mankiewicz, "It’s a dry house. The owner of the ranch doesn’t permit alcohol."
Herman tells his secretary Rita Alexander, ”My sympathy and prayers.”
Rita: ”I hope we won’t need your sympathy, Mr. Mankiewicz.” (0:03)

Mank tells his wife Sara, "The Wizard of Oz is gonna sink that studio."
Sara: ”Go to sleep, meshuggener.” (0:07)

Mank asks Rita, "Why is it, when you scratch a prim, starchy English schoolgirl, you get a swooning moving picture fan who’s forgotten all she learned about the Battle of Hastings?" (0:11)

Mank’s screen writer brother Joe tells journalist Charles Lederer, "There are millions to be made, and your only competition is idiots." (0:13)

Movie posters: The Four Feathers, Dance of Life (0:15)

Studio executive Irving Thalberg tells Mank, "I am shocked to see you here."
Mank: ”I’d be shocked to see me here too, Irving...” (0:21)

Mank tells actor Marion Davies, "I have such a hangover right now,..." (0:22)

Houseman tells a doctor, "There’s enough Seconal in the bottles to bring down a bull elephant in heat." (0:29)

Mank: "Houseman, you sly thing, you slipped me a Mickey."
Houseman: ”How you managed to reach it so early in your rehabilitation I cannot imagine.”
Mank: ”Stop worrying.” (0:30)

By telephone, Joe tells Mank, "I went to a party last night where Scott Fitzgerald referred to you as a ruined man." (0:40)

Marion: "I just saw 42nd Street."
”Well, yes, they showed that Hitler giving a speech, kissing babies.”
”This Hitler sounds like another drip.”
Irving Thalberg: ”Who in the world takes a lunatic like that seriously?”
Producer Louis B. Mayer: ”Hitler, Schmitler.”
Woman, referring to a book: ”It’s selling like crazy.”
Mayer: ”That rat Bolshcevik belongs right up there with Hitler on the list of people not to be taken seriously.” (0:43)

Marion tells Mank, "Nerts is Brooklynese for nuts."
”Nerts!”
Mank: ”Instinct.” (0:48)

Mank tells Houseman, "You worry too much, John."
By telephone, Orson Welles tells Mank, ”I’ve finished my test of Heart of Darkness.”
Mank tells the housekeeper, ”Fraulein Frieda, empty the Mickeys and start replacing their contents.” (0:56)

Frieda tells Rita, referring to Mank, "Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister will not allow his films to be shown in the Fatherland." (1:00)

“Central Casting” tells Mank, "I ain’t had so much as a walk-on since Tugboat Annie." (1:01)

C.C. tells Mank, referring to MGM, "They cleaned out the Washington and Culver gates like a dose of Ex-Lax." (1:12)

Poker player: "He’s the most famous schlub after FDR, Hitler and Mussolini." (1:12)

His test shot director friend Shelly Metcalf tells Mank, referring to Upton Sinclair, "Mayer was practically giddy to use it against him." (1:15)

Mank tells Irving, "... I do think footage of invading hobos has a certain xenophobic power when front-paged in the Times and backed by those tacky billboards." (1:16)

Mank asks Lederer, "What does instinct tell you." (1:22)

A studio executive asks Mank, "Are we quoting Goebbels?" (1:25)

Mank tells Sara, referring to Shelly, "He’s shit-faced." (1:30)

By telephone, Shelly’s wife Eve tells Mank, "I’m so worried."
Mank: ”Don’t worry, Fay.” (1:30)

Mank answers Joe, Referring to the Mojave, "God’s answer for drunks and reprobates. Perfect place to dry out."
Joe: ”I exposed myself, not entirely metaphorically, in court.”
”Somebody was bitching about Mervyn Le Roy running over budget on Wizard of Oz.” (1:32)

Mank answers Shelly, "Kill yourself."
Shelly answers Mank: ”Parkinson’s.”
”First you get the tremors...” (1:36)

A pop and a flash come from Shelly’s office. (1:39)

Memorial service for Irving Thalberg
A studio executive tells Mank, ”I haven’t seen you since Jack Gilbert’s funeral”
Mank: ”I haven’t seen you since Shelly Metcalf’s.” (1:43)

Louis Mayer: "I’m confused."
William R. Hearst asks Mayer, ”And how’s Marie Antoinette coming together?” (1:48)

Sara tells Mank, "... I’ve put up with your suicidal drinking, your compulsive gambling, your silly platonic affairs." (1:50)

Mank, referring to Don Quixote: "A deluded old nobleman who tilts at windmills."
”Our Quixote looks into the mirror of his youth and decides to break this glass, a maddening reminder of who he once was.”
”Don’t worry, folks.” (1:52)

Director Orson Welles tells Mank, "Remind me never again to work with a washed-up alcoholic."
Mank: ”That’s just what we need when Susan leaves Kane, an act of purging violence.” (2:03)

Rita answers Mank, "The Orkney Islands, you idiot." (2:04)

Announcer: "And the winner of the best original screenplay is... Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles for Citizen Kane." (2:04)

Title: "Herman Mankiewicz would die 11 years later of complications from alcoholism." (2:06)